The ability to read is a real blessing. As I think back over the years, I can't remember when I wasn't able to read. My mother must have read to me a lot when I was little.

She piqued my interest in all kinds of things every month when we'd do a quiz on current events and general trivia in Parents Magazine.

That must have been how I knew about Will Rogers. I was only five years old when I went out to the mailbox on a hot, windy August 1935 day on my aunt's farm in Clark County, S.D.

Only mail was a day-old copy of the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. The major headline told of the death of Will Rogers and Wiley Post in a plane crash near Barrow, Alaska.

I trudged back to the house to report the sad news. I was only five, but I knew who Will Rogers was and I felt really bad. He was one of my heroes — and still is.

His insight and humor had a timeless quality. Here are a few examples:

? Never miss a good chance to shut up.

? There are 2 theories to arguing with a woman — neither works.

? If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

? The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back in your pocket.

? Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

? If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.

? Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back.

? Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lyin' about your age and start braggin' about it.

? The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waitin' in line for.

? Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.

? Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

? When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.

? If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old.